Sheriff James Pohlmann and Capt. Walter Dornan at one of the five signs in the parish announcing the Sheriff’s office free Holiday Ride Home program has begun and runs through Jan. 2. The goal is to prevent drinking and driving. Call (504) 271-2501.

Sheriff James Pohlmann announces that for the 32nd consecutive year the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office is offering its free Holiday Ride Home program starting Thanksgiving Day and running through Jan. 2.

The goal is to cut down on drinking and driving to prevent injuries from vehicle crashes, Sheriff Pohlmann.

Call (504) 271-2501 and a Sheriff’s Deputy will pick you up anywhere in St. Bernard Parish and give you a ride home in the parish, the sheriff said.

If you live outside the parish you will be brought to a Sheriff’s Office station where you can make arrangements to get home from there.

“It is so simple and it could save your life or the life of someone you might hit in a traffic accident,” Sheriff Pohlmann said.

“We don’t want to arrest you for driving while intoxicated or otherwise impaired,” the sheriff said.

“So instead of getting behind the wheel if you are impaired, just give us a call and we will pick you up and give you a ride.”

Callers will be given a ride home but not to a bar, nightclub or to a party, the sheriff said

The free Holiday Ride Home program was started in St . Bernard Parish in 1986 and was the first of its kind in the New Orleans area.

Sheriff James Pohlmann presented a check for $2,350 to Jasmine Short of the American Cancer Society in New Orleans, on Nov. 30 and with them are seven deputies who were among 47 who pledged $50 each and took part in a “Shaveless November” to donate the money to the charity. The officers, from left, are Dep. Frank Auderer III, Sgt. Emile Breaux, Cpl. Jeff Babin, Sgt. Ryan Laylle, Capt. Justin Meyers, Dep. Robert Maloz and Dep. Richard Scheuermann.

Forty-seven deputies working in the Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division and other departments pledged a “Shaveless November,’’ with the permission of Sheriff James Pohlmann, and the result was $2,350 raised for the American Cancer Society in New Orleans.

Each officer pledged $50 for the project.

It was the second year deputies raised money and didn’t shave in November. Capt. Justin Meyers promoted the project last year after reading about other Sheriff’s Offices nationally doing the same to raise money for charities.

On Nov. 29, several corrections officers – all sporting beards of varying lengths – participated in a ceremony in which the $2,350 check was presented to Jasmine Short of the American Cancer Society in New Orleans.

Sheriff Pohlmann took part in the ceremony, along with Meyers, Sgt. Emile Breaux, Sgt. Ryan Laylle, Cpl. Jeff Babin and deputies Frank Auderer III, Robert Maloz and Richard Scheuermann.

The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, in accordance with Louisiana law, has mailed the 2016 property tax notices via U.S. mail to parish property owners and the taxes must be paid by Dec. 31 before becoming delinquent.

These notices were mailed to the address on file as provided to the St. Bernard Parish Tax Assessor’s Office. Property owners should have received these notices by now.

If anyone receives a tax notice for property they no longer own, please notify the sheriff’s Civil Tax Office at 504-271-2504 during regular business hours – Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. – and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday.

If a property owner has moved and hasn’t received their 2016 tax bill, they need to call both the Sheriff’s Office to give their new mailing address so the tax bill can be sent to them and must call or visit the St. Bernard Tax Assessor’s office to give their permanent address change.

The Tax Assessor’s office is in a building at 2118 Jackson Blvd., directly behind the Parish Courthouse in Chalmette. The Tax Assessor’s number is 504-279-6379.

The St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office only maintains the address change for the current mailing. The Assessor’s Office keeps the permanent address.

Property taxes for 2016 are due by Dec. 31 and afterward are considered delinquent. The Civil Division office, where such bills are paid, will close a half-day on Dec. 30 for the New Year’s holiday and re-open at 8:30 a.m.Jan. 3. But there is a drop box at the front entrance to the building for after-hours use.

Tax bills can also be paid online to the Sheriff’s Office at its web site at www.sbso.org by going to the left side of the front page to a tan-colored box near the top which says Pay Property Taxes

The Sheriff’s Civil Tax office is located on the 2nd-floor of the Sheriff’s Annex, at No. 2 Courthouse Square. The Annex – which is raised above ground – faces Pakenham Drive and is the second of two buildings directly behind the Courthouse.

The Civil Tax office will be closed a half-day on Dec. 23 through Dec. 26 for the Christmas holiday and will re-open at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 27.

Santa on the Bayou’s 17th Christmas Celebration including toy distribution for St. Bernard Parish children is set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10 at the St. Bernard Catholic Church, which is at 2805 Bayou Road, St. Bernard community.

Along with toys, Santa has face-painting, food and snacks including hot dogs, hamburgers, beverages, cotton candy, cookies and popcorn. Last year’s event was attended by nearly 2,000 children and adults.

Santa has planned another great celebration for the children and their families, focusing on the birth of Jesus Christ, including a live Nativity narration.

Santa thanks the numerous volunteers who participate in this celebration.

LEVAR RUSSELL, 17, arrested with a stolen vehicle after striking a utility pole

Two 17-year males arrested with a stolen vehicle from N,O. after striking a utility pole in Chalmette; Two others at-large

Two 17-year old males were arrested Thursday night, Nov 24, with a stolen vehicle from New Orleans after striking a utility pole in Chalmette, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

The crash near Paris Road about 7 p.m. knocked out electrical power in parts of the area for various periods of time.

Two others, both unknown suspects in the vehicle, are at-large, the sheriff said.

Both arrested suspects, one jailed and the other hospitalized in New Orleans for leg injuries in the crash, are being booked with possession of a stolen auto.

Corey Harris, who was found in the vehicle, is in University Hospital.

The other suspect, Levar Russell, who fled the vehicle and was found hiding under a house, was also booked with resisting an officer by flight, and with misrepresenting his name when taken to jail.

Russell is being held in St, Bernard Parish Prison with no bond set.

The Sheriff’s Office received information a stolen vehicle had entered the parish, Sheriff Pohlmann said, and deputies were alerted to he on the lookout for a red Honda and the license number was given.

The crystal meth, heroin and marijuana seized, as well as drug paraphernalia.

Some $6,000 worth of drugs, including 45 grams of crystal meth and 12 grams of heroin, were found after two New Orleans men in a van made a turn without using a signal, then completely stopped on a side street in Arabi, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Five grams of heroin were found on the driver, with a street value of at least $500, and the rest was inside a home security lock box in the van, for which agents of the Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Division obtained a search warrant from a judge before opening, the sheriff said.

Both Michael Belanger, 34, the driver, and passenger Harry Thrailkill, 53, were booked Nov. 18 with possession with intent to distribute crystal meth and heroin, as well as possession of some marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia which included numerous syringes and several scales, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

Belanger was also booked with no driver’s license, having a switched license plate, an expired inspection sticker and no proof of insurance.

Both are being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison – Belanger in lieu of $30,000 bond and Thrailkill in lieu of $25,000 bond.

SID agent Chelsea Soulagnet spotted the driver turn from Rowley Boulevard onto Alpaca Street in Arabi without using a turn signal. Then the van was stopped completely in the street.

A bag containing five grams of heroin was found on Belanger, as well as a syringe.

It was also determined the van had a license plate reported stolen earlier in the day from a vehicle in Violet.

When the home security lock box was located in the van, both men denied ownership and Belanger said he had found it in trash. But Belanger added, “if you open it I want a lawyer,’’ the sheriff said.

Agents could smell marijuana in the box and through an opening a powder-like substance and clear plastic bags were seen. Officers decided to get a search warrant from a judge to see what was inside.

In the lock box, agents found bags containing a total of 45 grams of crystal meth, worth at least $4,500 street value, and seven grams of heroin, with a street value of at least $700.

A St. Bernard Parish man said he and his step-son are lucky to be alive after an ordeal in which their shrimping skiff sank Nov. 19 in windy weather in Lake Borgne and they swam to a marsh and were rescued after hours in cold conditions.

“It was bad. We almost died from drowning and hypothermia,’’ said Joseph Mitchell, 56. “We were lucky.’’

Mitchell said he and step-son Daniel Scott, 30, spent hours on the rigging of the 28-foot boat after a wave sank it in windy weather the morning of Nov. 19. Then they swam to a marsh area in Lake Borgne where they spent hours in cold weather before a Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued them.

Mitchell said as he and Scott finally had to jump into water from their boat they had several pieces of luck.

They had life preservers that helped them reach the marsh.

Once on the land, shivering in wet clothing in the winds, they found their box for putting shrimp they caught had somehow come off the boat and also landed in the marsh, Mitchell said.

They hadn’t caught any shrimp before the boat sank so the box contained only ice, some of which they threw out and some they kept in case they needed fresh water to drink.

Then they got into the box, which became their shelter and best chance of surviving the cold, Mitchell said.

“Thank God for it,’’ Mitchell said. Without it, he said, he thinks they may have died of exposure.

They stayed inside it for quite a while.

Unknown to them, the Coast Guard had received word about a sunken boat and had begun looking for them.

A crabber had saw the swamped boat, reported it to a fire station on shore and firefighters reported it to Cpl. Shane Lulei of the Sheriff’s Office Marine Division. Lulei contacted the Coast Guard for help.

A Coast Guard helicopter was launched air and found them.

The helicopter crew hoisted the men aboard after dark and they were taken to the Air Station in Belle Chasse, where they were checked out by emergency medical services.

Mitchell spent most of Monday, Nov. 21, with others raising the sunken boat. He said they got it out but it is heavily damaged. But at least the men escaped death.

Technology backfired on three young men booked with theft of two outdoor surveillance cameras worth a total of $1,000 when a camera got a photo of one of them and it went to the phone of the property owner, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

The cameras were on trees on property in eastern St. Bernard Parish and had Internet connectivity, making the photo go straight to the phone of the land owner, the sheriff said. He discovered the theft and called the Sheriff’s Office.

One of the thieves was directly identified through the photo when he was later stopped for driving recklessly and the other two were also in the vehicle, the sheriff said.
Both stolen cameras were recovered at the home of one of the passengers in the vehicle and all were booked with theft. The owner was given the cameras back by deputies.

The three arrested Nov. 16 and booked with theft are Ryan Bartholomew and Tyler Mauroner, both 19 and from Lacombe; and Trey Raybon, 17, 1225 Bayou Road in eastern St. Bernard

Bartholomew was the one whose picture the land owner received on his phone and showed sheriff’s deputies. He was also driving recklessly in eastern St. Bernard after the thefts and was recognized when he was stopped, the sheriff said.

The cameras were recovered at Raybon’s home.

Raybon was being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison.on $5,000 bond and the other two were released on $2,000 bonds.

Antoinette Jacobs, wanted for attempted murder of a St. Bernard sheriff’s deputy.

Sheriff James Pohlmann said the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office is trying to find Antoinette Jacobs, 40, of New Orleans, who is wanted for attempted murder of a sheriff’s deputy who was struck by a vehicle and dragged several feet outside a Chalmette store after a shoplifting on Nov. 12.

Anyone with information on Jacobs’ whereabouts should call the Sheriff’s Office at (504) 271-2501 or Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111 and they could be eligible for a reward.

Jacobs, who has a felony conviction and numerous shoplifting arrests in her criminal history, was last seen driving a black Pontiac sedan bearing Louisiana license plate XXS964, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

A sheriff’s deputy who was working an off-duty paid detail at the Wal-Mart store at 8101 West Judge Perez Drive tried to stop Jacobs outside the store about 6:15 a.m. on Nov. 12 for investigation of shoplifting bottles of alcohol beverages.

But the suspect pulled away and ran to a car parked in the lot, which possibly had the motor running, the sheriff said.

As the deputy was trying to stop the suspect in the open driver’s side door, the suspect put the vehicle in reverse and accelerated. The officer was knocked to the ground and dragged several feet along side the vehicle, due to being pinned between the vehicle and the ground.

The suspect then placed the sedan into drive and fled the Wal-Mart parking lot, the sheriff said.

The deputy, whose name wasn’t released, was treated at a hospital for injuries and has been released.

The license plate number on the vehicle was obtained and Jacobs has been identified as the driver, Sheriff Pohlmann said, but she hasn’t been found.

The heroin, MDMA, pills, four guns, cash and drug paraphernalia seized in the arrests of two men.

You can obviously be arrested for driving the wrong way on a one-way street – but especially if illegal drugs are found in the vehicle.

Sheriff James Pohlmann said a man now living in Chalmette and one from New Orleans were stopped Monday afternoon, Nov. 14, going the wrong way in the 2500 block of Packenham Drive – near the driver’s residence – by agents of the Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Division.

The sheriff said the traffic stop ultimately led to the finding of a substantial amount of drugs worth at least $17,000, including 4.3 ounces of powdered MDMA, nearly1.5 ounces of heroin, 58 prescription pills, nearly an ounce of marijuana, as well as four guns including a shotgun and $855 cash.

After the stop, an initial investigation by agents found two handguns, 54 Tramadol pain pills, 21 grams of marijuana and two Oxycodone pain pills in the vehicle, the sheriff said.

Both the driver, Terrence Dejean, 23, 2512 Packenham Drive; and passenger Eddie Patterson, 26, of New Orleans a convicted felon, were arrested.

From the findings in the vehicle, both were booked with possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled dangerous substance, with possession with intent to distribute the Tramadol and marijuana and possession of the Oxycodone.

Patterson was also booked with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

But a search warrant for Dejean’s residence was also obtained from a judge.

At the residence, 4.3 ounces of powdered MDMA worth an estimated $12,100, nearly 1.5 ounces of heroin worth $4,000, two hydrocodone tablets, some marijuana, the shotgun and a handgun and $855 cash was found, Sheriff Pohlmann said. Several types of drug paraphernalia including scales were also located.

Dejean was booked alone with possession with intent to distribute heroin and MDMA, and possession of marijuana, the hydrocodone and drug paraphernalia found in the residence.

The two men were being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison, with bond for Dejean set at $100,000 and bond for Patterson set at $30,000.